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Huron: the Seasons of a Great Lake

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Huron: the Seasons of a Great Lake WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS DETROIT GREAT LAKES BOOKS A complete listing of the books in this series can be found at the back of this volume. Philip P. Mason, Editor Department of History, Wayne State University Dr. Charles K. Hyde, Associate Editor Department of History, Wayne State University Copyright © 1999 by Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Michigan 48201. All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without formal permission. Manufactured in the United States of America. 030201009954321 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Shelton, Napier. Huron : the seasons of a Great Lake / Napier Shelton. p. cm. — (Great Lakes books) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-8143-2834-2 EISBN 978-0-8143-3648-9 1. Limnology—Huron, Lake (Mich. and Ont.) 2. Natural history—Huron, Lake (Mich. and Ont.) I. Title. II. Series. GB1227.G85S48 1999 508.774—dc21 98-35662e To my parents, Frederick D. Shelton and Charline McCanse Shelton, who encouraged my interest in the natural world, and to Warren J. Worth and Elizabeth L. Worth, master and mistress of the cottage at Port Sanilac Contents Preface 9 Prologue: What Lies Beyond the Summer? 13 1. The Cottage 15 2. Port Sanilac 21 3. Up North 29 4. Ice 39 5. Fish and Birds in Winter 53 6. Avian Highways 63 7. The Base of the Pyramid 77 8. Fishing for a Living 83 9. Managing the Fisheries 105 10. Lake Trout and Lampreys 121 11. Restoring the Lake 135 12. June Shores 151 13. Colonial Waterbirds 175 14. The Summer Pause 187 7 15. Small Boats, Long Journeys 193 16. Fall Comes Down the Lake 207 17. Big Boats, Killer Storms 223 18. Birds at Christmas 235 19. Closing Up 247 Appendix 1: Common and Scientific Names of Plants 253 Appendix 2: Fishes of Lake Huron 257 Principal Published Sources 263 8 Preface In 1967 my wife’s parents bought a cottage on the sandy shore of Lake Huron at Port Sanilac, in the Thumb of southeastern Michigan. For part of almost every summer since then, we have made a pilgrimage to the cottage, taking our children when they were small, and occasionally meeting them there after they were grown and married. Our visits, in total, spanned the period from early May to early September. Every year I felt sad when we had to leave, because I wanted to see the full progression of seasons on Lake Huron. In 1995, having retired from the National Park Service, I got my wish. I arrived early in January and left late in December, with only a couple of interruptions during the year. This book, a natural history and a look at use and management of the lake, is largely a record of my experience and observations during that year, but it has been broadened and deepened by interviews and research in the literature. The summer sections benefit from the experience of many years, including a slow trip around the lake in June 1996. I was interested not only in the lake and its creatures and plants, but also in the people who had a close association with it: commercial fishermen, scientists, artists, birdwatchers, cottagers like us, and others. By sharing their knowledge and experience, they became a part of the story and helped me immeasurably in writing this book. Many people contributed in some way. I would especially like to thank the following: George and Irene Purvis, Forrest Williams, Denny 9 PREFACE Root, and Rob Taylor, commercial fishermen who gave interviews and allowed me to go out on their boats; Milford Purdy, Russ Herrick, Jimmy Preseau, Leonard Dutcher, Murray Hore, Mike Meeker, Robert (Bert) Herbert, Bryan Perks, Marshall Nadjiwon, and Rusty Raney, commer- cial fishermen who granted me interviews; Myles and Marilyn Willard, Doreen Bailey, Terry and Judith Land, Christopher Bell, Martin Parker, the late Dennis Rupert, Tom Heatley, Monica Essenmacher, Ron Weeks, and Bob Grefe, birders and naturalists who shared their special knowledge during trips afield; Gary and Mary Curtis, Charles (Chuck) Bowen (who took me on the research trip to Six Fathom Bank), and Roger Berg- stedt, of the U.S. Geological Survey Great Lakes Science Center; Mark Ebener, Chippewa/Ottawa Treaty Fishery Management Authority; Rod McDonald, Sea Lamprey Control Centre; James Baker, Michael Hanson, Doug Reeves, Charles Bauer, and Arnie Carr, Michigan Department of Natural Resources; Stephen Gile, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources; Judith Jones and Joe Johnson, botanists; the retired ship captains Morgan Howell and Patrick Owens; Dr. Fred Ludwig; Lt. Fred Sommer and crew of the Neah Bay; the Cleveland office of the U.S. Coast Guard; Dennis Schommer, Joe Bulone, Harry Greening, Bill Lyons, Dick Schaffner, Cecil Tubbs, Harold Schlicting, Jack Falls, Raymond Denison, Paul Messing, Paul Slivka, Garry Biniecki, all friends and acquaintances in Port Sanilac and vicinity who helped in various ways; Robert Whittam, Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre; Peggy Murphy, Killbear Provincial Park; and, for miscellaneous assistance, Tom Muer, Peter Ohrnberger, Daniel Miller, Chris Parent, William Grigg, Mark Wiercinski, Stephen Crawford, and Rob Simpson. I am also indebted to several reviewers of the manuscript. Myles and Marilyn Willard read it all. Gary Curtis, Roger Bergstedt, Mark Ebener, Stephen Gile, Stan Munroe, James Baker, Mike Hanson, George Purvis, Milford Purdy, Forrest Williams, Doreen Bailey, Judith Land, Judith Jones, Joe Johnson, Harold Schlicting, Morgan Howell, and Patrick Owens reviewed chapters pertaining to their areas of expertise. Any errors, of course, remain mine. The excellent maps and drawings are the work of Taina Litwak of Gaithersburg, Maryland. Several photographs, as credited, were taken by Myles Willard. The rest are mine. Many hands are involved in the publishing process, but I must extend particular thanks to Arthur Evans, director of the Wayne State University Press, for his interest and for so carefully apprising me of developments at each step preceding production of the book. 10 Preface Almost no one with a family writes a book without their support, or at least acquiescence. I thank my children for their interest in the project and especially my wife, Elizabeth, for doing without me for most of a year and acknowledging the writer’s need for solitude. 11 PREFACE Lake Huron area. The forest regions shown here generalize a more complex mixture of tree species. White pine, aspen, and paper birch, for example, occur commonly in the northern part of the deciduous region. White spruce, balsam fir, and aspen are increasingly important components northward in the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence region. (Credit: Taina Litwak) 12 Prologue What Lies Beyond the Summer? I have seen the summer at our beach on Lake Huron. Many summers. I know how the light falls on the lake, how the bands of blue, purple, grey come and go. I have watched the winds and waves change, the calm and storms. I know when the sandpipers will come, running and probing a few days in the sand, on their way to southern shores. The gulls will cruise up and down the beach all day, and at night will cluster by the harbor. I see the fishing boats far out, trolling back and forth, and in my mind’s eye the salmon swirl deep down in the cold dark water, striking terror in their prey and feeling terror when they take the hook. In the fog, a ship’s horn will sound, pause long, sound again. Lying in bed, I will hear it for an hour, fading way up at Harbor Beach. Ships go up, ships go down, carrying the commerce of the lakes. In summer, the harbor is full. Sailboats and yachts say the pleasure season is here. Owners recline in their deck chairs, sipping drinks. The townspeople smile—the boats mean money. I will have to wait in line at Platt’s Drug Store to buy whisky. It is our pleasure season too. The children dig in the sand, splash in the water. The brave swim out to the Whale Rock, upon whose smoothness one can sit when the lake is low. In our cottage on the shore we listen to Tennessee Ernie Ford bellowing out hymns. Grandmother Worth forever digs in her garden or plants another maple. Grandfather 13 PROLOGUE Worth barks orders, turns the news up too loud. But he is a decent fellow, we know. The cottage is a good time, a place of happy dreams. The pains of life seem to cease there, easing away with the summer warmth. But I wonder what lies beyond the summer. How does the light fall on November waves—waves that have sunk a hundred ships? When will the sea ducks come down, skimming the water in long, heavy lines? What is it like to ride the season’s last ship down the lake? How does the ice come and go, and how does it sound, piling up on the shore? When ice fills the harbor, do the townspeople still smile? What do the old men say, drinking their morning coffee down at Mary’s Diner? What will our lives be like, in the autumn and winter of life? What resurrection will we see in the spring? I think I will stay and find out. 14 CHAPTER 1 Th e C ot tag e nd I did—stay through all the seasons. I arrived at the cottage on A January 9, under a cloudless blue sky. Five inches of snow covered the ground and rounded the edges of the wall around our sunken garden patio. Beyond the snow-covered garden the white cottage stretched down toward the lake. There, clear water lapped gently against a low bank of ice along the shore.
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